Those Silly Little Souls
by Matisse Gacioppo
Summary: Those Silly Little Souls all fell in love, they all handed out their hearts piece by piece until they belonged to one person and one person only. This is a collection of love stories about various Harry Potter Characters in various stages of their love lives; whether it be the first kiss, the first I love you, or the last words ever spoken. Ultimate Shipping Challenge Extravaganza
1. As Arrogant As a Malfoy

As Arrogant As a Malfoy  
_Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon_

Marlene stood under the awning of the three broomsticks and stared gloomily at the pouring rain in front of her; calculating the distance between her and the small café that had just opened up down the street. Surely she wouldn't get _that _wet.

"Do you plan on getting soaked McKinnon or did you just not notice you were standing in a puddle?" Came an amused voice from behind her. Marlene looked quickly down at her shoe which was indeed half submerged in a puddle, she pulled it out slowly, trying not to think about how much muggle money the boot had cost.

"No Black, I was just enjoying my favourite past time of ruining my best pair of shoes. Do you have a problem with that?" She had to admit, that as far as sarcastic comebacks go she hadn't hit the jackpot. But the weather was affecting her mood and her witty humour, and all she really wanted was a coffee.

"Do you want to share my umbrella?" Sirius asked and he held out a black umbrella. Marlene did find it a tiny bit odd that Black was carrying around an umbrella as he had never seemed the type, sure she could have bet her money that Lucious Malfoy was carrying one but Sirius was more of the 'The rain parts for me' sort of guy. And the fact that he was offering to share seemed even more surprising, as hers and Black's relationship had never been considered friendly.

"I'm just going to get a coffee, right over there." She replied, pointing to the small coffee shop that looked as though it didn't get many visitors.

Sirius smiled charmingly and the two of them walked out into the rain. Upon reaching the café Sirius raised the corner of his mouth into a smile and followed Marlene into the shop.

She reached the counter and looked back at him, wondering why he was still there. Sirius just raised his eyebrows innocently and placed his order; "A tall black?" Marlene mused, _how very fitting. _

"Too strong for you is it?" Sirius smirked at her and sat down at the table she had picked. She pursed her lips, trying not to think about the unfinished Transfiguration essay lying in her bag; she had come to the coffee shop to finish it away from the noise of the common room.

"No, just thinking about how comical it is." She quickly jumped to her own defence. She didn't want Black thinking there was something she couldn't handle.

The sides of Sirius' mouth twitched as though he was trying to conceal a smile, "What because I'm tall and I'm a Black? Really Marlene, you're stooping to petty name games now?"

Marlene rolled her eyes but smiled slightly when he added as an afterthought, "I like it black, like my soul." He was_ so_ cliché.

The coffee's arrived and she studied the charming – if slightly annoying – boy over the rim of her cup. She once again marvelled at how striking he was, and how –not that she would ever admit it- attractive he looked while smirking. Which she realised with a start, he was doing right now; smirking that arrogant smirk and staring straight at her.

"See something you like McKinnon?" He asked her, his own eyes roaming all over the parts of her body not concealed by the table. God he was as arrogant as a Malfoy sometimes. _That could be a slogan, _she thought to herself, _like the ones muggles put on their cars; 'As arrogant as a Malfoy.'_

"Eyes front soldier, I was just eyeing off your coffee, no need to get cocky." She replied slowly, cursing the blush that was spreading across her cheeks.

Sirius just kept on smirking and held out his cup. "I still don't believe that a tall Black isn't too strong for you to handle." He winked at her as though he was implying something else entirely, which Marlene thought, he probably was.

She took the cup and glared at him before taking a large sip. He was right of course, the coffee was entirely too bitter but she didn't want him to know that. So she composed her face and swallowed normally, burning her tongue as she did so.

Marlene grinned triumphantly at him and handed back the cup, resisting the urge to pour the whole sugar shaker into her mouth. Sirius chuckled as he took back his coffee; he sounded amazing while chuckling, not that Marlene noticed or anything.

"Attractive, feisty and stubborn, not my usual taste but I think I could make an exception for you Mckinnon."

Marlene rolled this over in her mind, trying to figure out if he was mocking her or just being his plain flirtatious self. _Most likely both, _she mused, this was exactly the type of behaviour she had learnt to expect from Sirius Black. So why was it that this time the compliment gave her a weird feeling in her stomach?

It was because she was so preoccupied in her own head that it took her a moment to realise that Sirius had stolen her notebook out of her bag and was now reading one of her short stories.

"Give it back! Please don't read those Sirius, they aren't any good." She leaned across the table and one of her curls just missed landing in her coffee as she tried to snatch back her notebook.

"This is amazing Marlene." He muttered, leaning back on the hind legs of his chair so that Marlene couldn't reach him or the book.

Marlene reached over further and Sirius looked up and laughed at her attempts to grab the notebook. He gave her back the book and took his time studying her as she leafed through the pages trying to figure out if anything was missing or ruined.

With her long blonde curls and defined features she was definitely gorgeous but she didn't act like most of the girls her knew. Then again, she was carrying around a notebook full of stories and he was sure she didn't spend all that time in the Library only studying.

Marlene finished her latte and stood up. Sirius stood up with her and offered to walk her as far as the three broom sticks seeing as it was still raining. When they reached the three broomsticks Sirius stopped.

"Here you take the umbrella," he offered it to her and eyed the rain that was still coming down in sheets, "I have to go meet James at Zonkos, so I can't walk you back to school."

Marlene just shook her head and pushed his away, "I'm not taking the umbrella Black; you'll get soaked."

Sirius rolled his eyes at her stubbornness, didn't she realise that if he took the umbrella she would be the one getting soaked? "Oh come on McKinnon, I'm always being lectured on how I should always be courteous and then the one time I am I get turned down? Besides if you don't take it you'll get wet and catch a cold."

Marlene was slightly shocked, since when did Sirius Black care if she got a cold or not? "Black, you will get a cold if you don't take it and I'm pretty sure Madam Pomfrey is sick of seeing you in the infirmary. This much was true; James and Sirius seemed to be in the sick room at least twice a week.

"Trust me Mar; I'm not going to get a cold, now hurry up and take the blasted umbrella." When Marlene made no move to take the umbrella Sirius stepped backwards out of it protection and into the onslaught of rain.

He grinned and shook his hair before stepping back under the umbrella. "Looks like I'm already wet, which means you're going to have to take the umbrella; no point in us both getting soaked." He grinned at her again as though he knew he had her at a check mate.

Marlene just pursed her lips and cursed Black's stubbornness. So, instead of accepting the umbrella like any normally person; she went to take a step backwards out into the rain.

She was just about to step out of the umbrella's shelter when she felt an arm wrap around her waist and she was suddenly being pulled closer to Sirius. "Jesus Christ you are stubborn aren't you?" He exclaimed as he looked down at her, his eyes suddenly taking on a darker shade.

"Hey Mar, you wanna do something spontaneous?" He murmured, somehow pulling her even closer.

Marlene barely had time to register his words before she felt his lips on hers. Sirius kissed her hungrily, his tongue exploring her mouth with the experience that only a player like Sirius could have.

Finally he pulled away, leaving Marlene feeling rather dazed, so dazed that she didn't even notice that she was somehow holding the umbrella until Sirius was halfway down the street; his running figure growing smaller as he made his way to Zonko's.

_Well that was unexpected. _Was all Marlene could think of as she started her long walk back up to the castle.

Looks like she could handle a tall Black after all.


	2. Between Flashes of Green

Between Flashes of Green  
_Frank and Alice Longbottom_

You lay there; body convulsing on the hard ground as you clench your lips against your cries of pain. You don't want those responsible to hear how much suffering they are putting you through; they would only find your agony amusing. But there is also Frank to think about; he is enough pain as it is, yet you know that he only worries about you, just as you keep your cries silent to lesson his burden.

Your back arcs as a fresh onslaught of hurt comes your way, yet you don't utter a sound, you have always put the needs of others first and right now you worry only about Frank, and your beautiful little boy, who at this moment is miles away.

You slowly turn your head to the side, wanting more than anything else to see his face, to look at him in what might be your last moments. You would be contempt with that; to die staring at him, knowing that the last thing you ever saw was the face of the one you loved most.

As the dark hearted people above you jeer and snarl, you find your thoughts drifting to your son, Neville. You hope that he one day becomes as handsome as his father, you hope that he has a happy life; a life without fear, and that he has friends as loyal and kind-hearted as yours were. You hope that he is taken care of and raised in a loving environment, because you know, deep in your heart that you won't be there to see him grow up.

This thought breaks your heart and you reach for Frank's hand as another cry of "Crucio" fills the air.

You worry that soon you will break, that soon you will give in to the pain and tell them everything. You look at him once more as a distraction and you find yourself staring at the look of grim determination on his face, its then, among flashes of green, and the cruel voices of your tormentors that you realise that your husband is the bravest man you know.

He has no intention of giving up, of telling these monsters what they desperately needed to hear, no matter what happened to him he wasn't going to break.

His courage makes you stronger and you seal your lips against the screams of pain that were forcing their way up your throat, you know in your heart that you would follow this man anywhere, and if he was willing to die today then so were you, for you loved him and he loved you and that was all that mattered.

You squeeze his hand as the curse got stronger; you let him know that you are there and that you are not leaving his side for the rest of your time on this god forsaken earth.

Fin.

**So that was my first time writing a Drabble and also my first time writing in second person, so that is why it isn't very good. Tell me your thoughts; good and bad. And please keep reading. **


	3. Thornebuckles and Unexpected Kisses

**This one-shot is also written for the Luna Shipping Challenge. **

Thornebuckles and Unexpected Kisses.  
_Luna Lovegood and Dean Thomas_

Luna Lovegood had been forced into staying with her Aunt Celeste for the summer before sixth year; she was forced into living in a plain, white, two story house- which looked exactly the same as all the other houses that were cramped onto the one street.

She still didn't even see why she couldn't just join her father on his trip to India to find the two headed Yornsnap. Or she could have at least stayed at home by herself. _Yes, _she thought, _staying at home would have been much more exciting. At least home has the stream and the garden. This place has nothing unusual what so ever, it is all so normal. _

Luna stood in her aunt's garden and watched the leaves float around her, one leaf in particular –a red one- caught her eye and she followed it around the garden knowing for a fact that the leaf was not really a leaf but a thornebuckle. Thornebuckles liked to disguise themselves as red leaves –her father had once told her- so this was obviously one of the little creatures.

Luna watched as the red leaf blew up into the air and straight threw her open bedroom window. She was defiantly going to have to follow the creature for further inspection, and then maybe she could write an article on it for the Quibbler.

Luna smiled dreamily to herself; she had been waiting for an adventure all holidays, and climbing through her window to chase after a thornebuckle seemed as good as any adventure she would find around this dull neighbourhood.

Climbing the drainpipe that led up to the window wasn't as easy as she thought it would be; it was slippery with a green substance and she was sure her aunt was going to have a fit when she saw the state of Luna's once white top, but the thought that her father would be proud of her was what kept her going.

Luna slid gracefully through the window and was halfway through congratulating herself on not slipping, when she realised she wasn't the only one in the room.

There was a boy sitting in the desk chair facing the window, his hands clutching a book about something to do with a foot and a ball.

He had black hair and a dark skin tone and Luna was sure she had seen him around Hogwarts before.

"Luna Lovegood?" The boy asked, surprised. Luna found this extremely odd as shouldn't she be the one who was surprised? She _had_ just found a boy in her room.

For the first time in her life Luna –for some unknown reason - wanted to say something flirtatious or cute to the stunning boy sitting in front of her but instead she said –as always- the first thing that came to her mind. "What are you doing here?" Her voice sounded dreamy yet curious as she took in the boy sitting in front of her and wondered if he was looking for the thornebuckle as well.

The boy raised his eyebrows at her in an astonished way and Luna's heart fluttered a little, though she wasn't sure why. "I live here." He told her.

Blood rose to Luna's cheeks as she glanced around the room for the first time. How had she not realised that this wasn't even her bedroom? How had she climbed into the wrong house? For the first time ever, Luna was actually embarrassed. Well only a tiny bit.

The boy waited for an answer but he didn't seem the least bit bothered by the fact that a strange girl had just slid through his window. In fact, now that the shock had worn off, he seemed rather amused.

Luna's moral was always that the best answer was the truth, so it was the truth she gave him. "I was following the thornebuckle." She told him simply, fiddling with her butterbeer cork necklace.

"I'm sorry, what?" The boy –Dean; that was his name, Luna remembered- looked ready to laugh.

"There was a thornebuckle out in the garden and it flew up into my bedroom window, your bedroom window, I thought it was my bedroom window as all the houses here look the same."

Dean looked quite interested now, though Luna was sure he didn't believe her.

"What's a thornebuckle?" He asked politely. Though he sounded a lot like Hermione did when she didn't believe a word Luna was saying but decided to go along with it just to be civilised.

So Luna described what the creature looked like and she talked about all she had learned from her father about it. And then Dean stood up and walked over to his bed, where he bent down and picked something up from the floor.

"Is this the thornetruckle?" He asked her, with a smile which made her heart race.

"Buckle," she corrected him, "thorne_buckle." _

Dean laughed, "I knew that." And he held out the red leaf.

Luna reached for the leaf and upon realising how close she was standing to Dean; Luna did something even crazier than everything else she had ever done. She leant forward and lightly brushed her lips against Dean's.

She then pulled back and skipped over to the window, thornebuckle in hand. Dean stared after her with wide eyes.

Luna was just about to slide out when Dean stopped her. 'Why did you come in the window? Why not use the front door?' he asked.

'Where's the adventure in that?' was her reply before she climbed back out the window and onto the roof, her light blonde hair swaying around her.

And then, just as Luna was about to slide off the roof, Dean leant out of the window and pulled on her arm so that she was facing him. He smiled once again and brushed his lips against hers, ever so lightly.

Luna turned and climbed back down the drain pipe, though her thoughts were not on thornebuckles anymore.

**What did you all think? I didn't make it too passionate or anything because it's Luna and I felt that she would be more simple and sweet in a relationship. **


	4. What Happened to Always?

What Happened to Always?  
_Sirius Black and Emily Wilde (OC)_

The woman impatiently pushed her long fair hair out of her face as she strode down Diagon Alley, looking for her children. The two girls had run off somewhere and the woman was annoyed at herself for losing sight of them.

She had to remind herself again and again that she couldn't keep her eyes on them forever; the oldest started at Hogwarts that year and there was no way the woman could follow her. Although if she applied for a teaching career… No that was a foolish thought, one that the woman had to drop. Just because she had lost most of the important people in her life didn't mean she would lose these two as well. Besides, if she went to Hogwarts what would happen to her youngest daughter? She very well couldn't take her to the castle as well.

The two girls, as it turned out, were talking excitedly to a fifteen year old boy outside Flourish and Blotts. _Such shy girls, _the woman thought dryly, while trying to squish the paranoid feeling, which had crept into her stomach after seeing her daughters talking to a stranger.

The younger of the two ran towards her and wrapped her arms around the woman's legs. "There you are Hadley; I thought I'd lost you Squirt." The woman smiled down at the five year old, who had finally let go of her legs.

The boy looked up at the woman in front of him; there was something oddly familiar about her. It was as if he knew her, yet he had never seen her before. _Like a character in a book, _the boy mused.

Suddenly the woman called to the girl who had been speaking to him and a lot of things clicked into place. "Alex Rain Wilde, I thought I told you to stay close to me. We have to go home now, so stop diddle-daddling and let's go Buster."

The boy looked surprised as the woman strode towards him and finally realised who he was. "Harry? Harry Potter? God, for a second there you reminded me of…"

"My father, so everyone says." Harry finished for her.

But the woman just shook her head. "I was going to say Sirius, you reminded me of Sirius." Harry suddenly felt warm inside at being compared to his Godfather.

"Speaking of Sirius…" But Harry didn't get to finish warning her that his Godfather was in Diagon Alley because at that moment the man himself strode into view.

"All done Harry? We better get back before old Molly has a fit… Em? Emily is that you?" Sirius Black looked like he had seen a ghost, and the woman herself looked no better.

"Sirius…" And then the woman did something so out of character that she surprised even herself.

She strode up to Sirius Black –handsome, convicted murderer Sirius Black- and slapped him straight across the face. "How could you Black? I knew you were innocent and you did too so why did you let them take you away? You would never have betrayed James, any fool knew that. And yet you let them take you to Azkaban because you believed it was your fault. Did you not think of how it would affect Remus if you let everyone believe you sold out James and Lily? Or what about how Alex would have felt? Or Rain and Rumour? Or… Or me?" The woman paused for a moment, Sirius still looked shocked by her appearance and her reaction.

"What happened to always Sirius? What happened to never leaving my side? You left, and don't you dare give me any excuses, you left and I changed…" The woman called Emily suddenly stopped talking as she looked off into the distance. Harry wasn't sure if she was remembering the events of fourteen years ago or if she was embarrassed by how much emotion she had shown.

Sirius took her silence as his chance to speak, "You would have done the same if it had been Alex, James and I were as close as the two of you are and now he's gone Em, I couldn't just keep going with my life after knowing I had something to do with his death… it just wasn't the same without him… What if it had been Alex?"

The woman started silently crying and Harry wasn't sure if he should slowly walk away.

"Alex died years ago Sirius, she was experimenting and it went wrong, her daughter Luna witnessed the whole thing. So don't you dare go on about how hard it was to cope without James, I could have helped you, I understood how you felt. You knew what happened to my parents, I lost them Sirius remember? I lost Zoe, and yet you don't see me running off to Azkaban."

Sirius looked at her in dismay after hearing the end of her speech. "Zoe? Zoe's gone?"

Harry vaguely remembered his Godfather once telling him about how his high school sweetheart –Emily Wilde- had had a little sister named Zoe.

"She was a Squib Sirius; a group of still loyal Death Eaters came for her about a year after you left."

It was then that Sirius slowly gathered the crying woman into his arms, the two fitting together like pieces of a puzzle even after all these years and Harry was about to leave when the two little girls ran up to the woman.

"Mum, can Hadley and I go get ice-cream?" The oldest asked, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet and eyeing Sirius suspiciously.

Sirius stepped back as though he had been shocked. "_Mum? _She just called you…" He looked at the two girls and saw how much they resembled the woman standing in front of him. "You're married?" He asked quietly, disappointment etching itself into his face. He had spent many years in Azkaban thinking about this woman, about the times at Hogwarts they had shared, and yet here she was, married to another man.

Emily looked down at her feet, "Sirius, you left and Zoe was gone, Alex had just died and the twins were in France working for the Aura office. I was alone and I was getting _bad _again, and then I met him… But it doesn't matter anymore Black, I broke it off years ago, haven't seen him since. He wasn't you and that was all that mattered."

Sirius suddenly looked hopeful again and this time Harry did turn away, though not before catching a glimpse of his Godfather pulling Emily to him and kissing her right there in the middle of the street.

The End.


	5. Guilty as Charged

Guilty as Charged  
_James Potter and Lily Evans_

James Potter flew up the wall of the castle, counting the windows as he went. Stealing his broomstick out of the quidditch shed had been easy enough but finding the right window in the darkness of the night was proving to be much harder than he had originally thought.

After losing his count twice he finally found the right window and proceeded to throw rocks at it, feeling for all the world as though he was in some stupid muggle movie. The window opened and a sleepy looking redhead stared out at him.

The girl rubbed her eyes and raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms she opened her mouth and asked in an amused voice, "Potter were you throwing rocks at my window?"

James grinned at her and moved his broom closer to the window. "Guilty as charged Love, now hop on we're going for a broom ride."

Lily Evans looked at him and then down at herself, "James, it's cold and I'm only wearing my pyjamas." She pointed out, hoping that she would be allowed to hop back into her warm bed.

But James just shook his head at her complaints and shrugged out of his jumper, handing it to her, challenging her to put it on. Lily glared slightly and took her time pulling the jumper over her head, though once she was wrapped up in the warm material that had the lingering scent of the attractive boy outside her window, she quickly forgot her longing to go back to bed.

The sleeves of the jumper were too long for her and only the tips of her fingertips could be seen, which James of course was completely adorable. "I'm not getting on that broomstick Potter." She grumbled, eyeing the broom suspiciously.

"Fine then, miss out on a moonlit ride around the grounds with your beloved boyfriend." James held a hand up to his heart as though her complaints wounded him. Though he knew that eventually she would agree to his pleas.

"I can't fly." She pointed out, frowning at the ground beneath the broom.

"Hence the broomstick Love." James winked at her and flew as close as he could to the window sill.

She glared at him, pretending that he was annoying her, "You know what I mean Potter."

"Just hold tight to me and I'll do the flying, come on Lil you know you want to."

Lily did want to, so she hopped up onto the window sill and wondered how she was meant to get onto the blasted broom. "What if I fall James?" She asked, biting her lip as she risked another glance at the ground that seemed so far away. She had never liked heights and was just wondering why they couldn't do something more close to the ground when James answered her question.

"I'll catch you of course, I'll always catch you Lil." His voice was light and teasing and so was his smile, yet Lily could see the seriousness in his eyes; he meant what he said. With that thought in mind Lily ungraciously clambered onto the broomstick and wrapped her arms around James' waist.

They flew around the castle grounds for some time, James making comments as they went. "I'm glad I got the right window this time," he told her as they flew towards the lake, "On my first try I got old McGonagall's bedroom, she didn't seem to take lightly to being woken this late at night. I've got detentions for the next three Saturdays." Lily laughed at his remarks and she soon realised that they were now directly over the lake, facing the castle.

Hogwarts had always seemed magical to Lily but now in the moonlight with barely any lights turned on and its reflection glittering in the lake below them, Lily thought the castle looked beautiful.

She didn't have long to dwell on the thought though because they were now rising steadily higher. "Hey Lils, you want to do some stunts?" he asked mischievously, already knowing the answer was no.

But before Lily had time to reply, the broom with the two of them on it, started nose-diving towards the ground. Lily squealed and clung tighter to James, she could feel rather than hear him laugh as she snapped her eyes shut and leaned her face against his back, waiting for the impact with the ground.

But they never hit the ground and Lily opened her eyes to find that they were still air-born, hovering only metres above the ground. Lily slapped James on the back, "I hate you so much Potter."

The slap and the words had little impact on James who only smiled to himself, "Awe Evans, you know you love me."

Lily breathed outwards and watched as her breath twirled around her, showing how cold it truly was. "Yeah, I guess I do." She sighed quietly.

As soon as she had said the words she felt James straighten, he turned towards her, eyes wide, and kissed her right there on the broomstick, still hovering a couple metres above the ground.

He broke the kiss off and leant his forehead against hers, his hazel eyes staring into her green ones. "Say it again." He murmured softly.

"I love you James Potter." She repeated, knowing as she said it that it was true.

James grinned at her and her heart missed a beat as she once again thought of how handsome he was, "I love you too Lil, always have always will." He replied, before turning back around and steering the broomstick back to her bedroom window.

Fin xx.


	6. Catch Me if You Can

Catch Me if You Can  
_Xenophillis Lovegood and Alex Bane (OC)_

Alex Bane stepped up onto the railing of the astronomy tower and tried to ignore her best friend's comments. "You're insane you know that right? Completely and utterly insane. What if the wire doesn't hold?" Emily Wilde asked her, tugging lightly on the wire that was secured to the belt around Alex's waist.

Emily had been against the whole idea since the beginning but Alex wasn't about to back down, she had wanted to do this for the last year or so but it had taken time to perfect the harness and wire that would protect her from crashing to the ground.

"Alley Cat, I really don't think this is a good idea, what if you fall?" Emily used her childhood nickname for Alex in hopes to win her over, though she knew that it probably wouldn't work; Alex was really stubborn when she had an idea set in her head.

"Emi," Alex mimicked the childhood name calling, "don't get your panties in a knot, your old pal Sirius help me enchant the wire, so it should be fine." She turned to grin at her friend to show how unconcerned she was about the height.

"Just because I'm dating Black doesn't mean I trust his judgement, or his safety measures. Actually now that I think about it, the fact that Sirius helped has just made me even more worried."

Alex just rolled her eyes, only half listening as she thought about the best position to be in when falling. She decided she was going to fall backwards, that way she could look at the sky instead of the ground.

She turned around so she was facing Emily, and after giving her a mock salute she jumped backwards off the tower and was soon falling through the air below, hurtling towards the ground in an exhilarating way that made her laugh in enjoyment.

But suddenly it stopped, and not in the way it was supposed to; Alex was supposed to keep falling until the wire pulled taunt and stopped her descent but the wire was still loose and yet she wasn't moving.

It was then that she realised she could feel arms around her and upon shifting her head slightly she saw the attractive face of Xenophilius Lovegood, who, seemed to have caught Alex bridal style while on his broomstick.

Xenopilius raised an eyebrow at her as though wondering why she had just been falling out of the sky. But Alex was too busy taking in his profile to be bothered to answer his unasked question. She supposed he was handsome enough, with his defined cheekbones and short, ruffled white-blonde hair; all the Ravenclaw girls seemed to think him very noteworthy.

Alex snapped back to reality when she remembered the situation she was in. "Why in the name of Merlin's trousers did you stop my fall?" She asked him in an annoyed voice. Not really caring if it was un-lady-like to use words such as those.

The boy looked shocked for a moment before answering, "You were falling from the tower, and I thought you needed help. But I can see now that you jumped on purpose, didn't you?" He said nodding his head at the makeshift harness she was wearing around her waist.

"You saw me falling so you decided to catch me?" She asked incredulously, "Why wouldn't you just use a spell to stop my fall?"

Xenophilius stared at the odd girl who he was still holding, "What if the spell hadn't worked? You could have fallen to your death."

Alex, who always spoke her mind and who never seemed to realise when a boy was showing interest in her, decided to contradict him. "Firstly I wouldn't have fallen to my death," she gestured at the wire hanging above them, "and secondly; what if you couldn't reach me in time on your broom? Or if I was too heavy and we both ended up falling."

It was then that she realised he was still holding her bridal style so she raised both her eyebrows –never having perfect raising just the one- and motioned for him to let her go.

Xenophilius by then had raised the broomstick up to the tower where she had jumped from so he placed Alex carefully back onto the railing and studied her as she sat down and swung her legs over the side.

She was certainly pretty; with her soft waves of dark brown hair and her light brown skin; she seemed to capture all eyes when she walked into a room. He had seen her before of course, even though he was a year older, he always turned –like everyone else- when he heard her laughter float down the hallways of the castle. She was unique and had a happy aura about her that was infectious. And her stunt today proved that she was brave, if not a little bit insane.

Alex who noticed his staring quipped; "Eyes front soldier."

Xenophilius quickly looked at her harness with interest, "Quite the contraption you got there, how did you make it?"

Alex shrugged, quickly growing bored of the boy, "Black helped me make it." And then giving him her signature salute she jumped off the railing and went falling through the sky, laughing the whole time.

Xenophilius stared after the odd girl, wondering how on earth he was going to get her attention. His thoughts were interrupted though by the loud shoutings of Professor McGonagall, "Ten points from Gryffindor, yes I'm talking to you Miss Bane, no I don't care what your reasons are, what if one of the first years decide to copy your antics?"

He couldn't hear Alex's replies but he had a feeling they were creative, if not a little bit rude. His mind was set, he was going to get this girl to fall for him, because who knew, one day she might be the person who helps him try to find the Crumpleheaded Snorkack.


End file.
